Heat pump repairs in Auckland: common faults and costs

We quote on facts, not guesses

Before we give you a price, we carry out a proper assessment of your property and how you'll use your heat pump.
That way you know exactly what you're buying and the total cost, with no surprises.
Clear expectations from the outset, start to finish.

The estimates below are for standard heat pump repairs.
The Conduction Company confirms final pricing after a property assessment.

The Conduction Company's heat pump repair prices, from its own completed jobs and its fixed refrigerant rates:
Diagnosis visit, up to an hour on site: $170 to $290 including GST, from 14 completed jobs
R32 refrigerant top-up: $26.22 including GST per 100 g, plus labour
R410A refrigerant top-up: $46.58 including GST per 100 g, plus labour
Replacement circuit board: priced on the day
Compressor repair: priced on the day

Is the diagnosis cost taken off the repair if you go ahead?

Not as a discount, because The Conduction Company's diagnosis visit is a set price that already includes up to an hour on site. If the team finds the fault and fixes it in that time, you pay no extra labour, only any parts. If it needs longer or a bigger repair, you get the exact extra cost before anyone starts. "What we avoid at all costs is any surprise bills that pop through at the end," Jordan Statham says.

Why is regassing an older heat pump getting more expensive?

Older heat pumps run on R410A, a refrigerant that is now far dearer to top up, and The Conduction Company sees regassing some older units become hard to justify. The cause is not a tariff. R410A is a strong greenhouse gas, so New Zealand puts a carbon price on it and caps how much can be imported. The Ministry for the Environment publishes a yearly levy on the gas inside imported equipment, a fair guide to that carbon cost. For 1 kg of R410A it rose from $76.29 in 2022 to $129.85 in 2023, excluding GST. In 2026 it is $113.99 excluding GST.

Newer heat pumps use R32, which The Conduction Company finds much cheaper to top up. R32 is not free of the carbon price or the import cap. It costs less because it warms the climate about a third as much: its 2026 levy is $40.19 a kilogram, excluding GST. R32 is rated A2L under AS/NZS ISO 817, the refrigerant safety standard, where the L stands for low burning velocity. "Mildly flammable" is fair, but it can burn, so it is handled as a flammable gas.

Refrigerant work has its own rules, separate from electrical work. In New Zealand, suppliers sell refrigerant only to people holding an approved filler certificate or a refrigerant licence. Recovering refrigerant into a cylinder needs an approved filler under the Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017. Jordan Statham holds a Refrigerant License New Zealand licence in the Approved Filler category, endorsed for flammable gases, and The Conduction Company owns its own recovery gear.

Letting refrigerant escape while servicing a heat pump is an offence under the Ozone Layer Protection Act 1996, unless it cannot be avoided while connecting or disconnecting the equipment. That is why The Conduction Company recovers the refrigerant first on a job like a compressor repair.

What are some common problems with heat pumps?

Low refrigerant tops The Conduction Company's list. Either the unit was not installed quite right, or a joint somewhere along the piping has a very slow leak, and over time the pressure drops. The team tops it up and finds and fixes or tightens the leak in the same visit.

Next come the moving parts, which wear out first. The Conduction Company sees valves, fans and compressors fail most, and even the small motors that drive the vanes and covers on the indoor unit. Circuit boards are the other common failure. Heat inside the unit makes the board expand and contract, and over time a small component fails or blows.

Can ants damage a heat pump?

Yes. Ants and cockroaches like the outdoor unit because it is warm, especially in summer, and The Conduction Company has found them nesting on the circuit board and shorting it out. On one Auckland job the error code pointed to a sensor fault. On site, the team found ants had got into the outdoor circuit board and ruined it, so the fix was a new board, not a sensor. "Weird error codes can pop up when your printed circuit board has been compromised," Jordan Statham says.

Why is my heat pump blowing cold air in winter?

If your heat pump is not blowing hot air on a cold morning, it is usually defrosting, and The Conduction Company gets a lot of these calls on the coldest days. In winter a heat pump moves heat from the outside air into your home, which is why the outdoor unit blows cold air. On cold, damp days, often near zero degrees, frost builds up on the outdoor coil and the unit loses efficiency.

So it switches into defrost and warms the outdoor coil to melt the frost. While it does, the indoor fan slows or stops, and some units blow a little cool air. Jordan Statham sees it sort itself out in about 10 to 20 minutes; Fujitsu says up to approximately 15 minutes for its units. If it does this far too often, or it is not defrost at all, The Conduction Company tests the system for a fault.

What does my heat pump's error code mean?

It points to the part or sensor the unit thinks has failed, and The Conduction Company finds its meaning depends on the make and model. A code can show on the remote, on the indoor unit's display, or as a pattern of blinking lights. An E3 or an 05 means different things on different makes, so look yours up against your own model, not a general list. The manual often lists what each code means for your model.

Jordan Statham's tip is to take a video of the blinking lights or note the code, photograph the model number on the side of the unit, and ask an AI tool what it means. Check the answer against your manual, because an AI can get it wrong. Often the code means a failed part that needs The Conduction Company, but the homework can save you a call-out, and it tells the team which parts to bring.

How to reset an AC heat pump?

Turn it off at the isolating switch beside the outdoor unit, wait five minutes, then switch it back on, The Conduction Company advises. That power cycle is like restarting a computer, and it clears a unit stuck in one mode.

If the heat pump's breaker at the switchboard has tripped, switch it fully off, then on, once. New Zealand's electrical code of practice NZECP 51 says that if a breaker keeps turning off, the fault needs to be found. So if it trips again straight away or soon after, leave it off and call The Conduction Company. "If a circuit breaker trips, there's a reason why it's tripping," Jordan Statham says.

A breaker is built to be switched thousands of times, but each trip on a live fault wears it, and a big short circuit can damage it in one go. Schneider Electric, one of the main breaker makers in New Zealand, says a breaker that has cleared a short circuit at its full rated capacity should be replaced. Keep resetting into a fault, and The Conduction Company may have to replace the breaker as well as repair the heat pump.

Why is my heat pump not responding to the remote?

Start with the remote's batteries, The Conduction Company advises. A wall controller is wired in, so it should always work, and if one stops responding the usual cause is a failed circuit board in the indoor unit. The wiring is rarely at fault, unless someone has recently worked in the ceiling where it runs. If the circuit has tripped or been switched off, neither the remote nor the wall controller will respond.

When is the fault in the wiring or power supply, not the heat pump?

Rarely, in The Conduction Company's experience. A unit with no lights that ignores the remote could have a supply fault, but most often a fault inside the heat pump has tripped the breaker that feeds it. That is a heat pump fault, not a wiring fault, so only a fraction of cases turn out to be the supply.

When the problem is the supply, it is electrical work on your home's wiring. Maintaining the cables, and connecting a fixed heat pump to its supply other than by a plug, is prescribed electrical work under the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010. The Electricity Act 1992 lets only authorised people do it, and The Conduction Company's licensed electricians test the circuit, the isolator and the connection as part of its electrical fault finding in Auckland.

Which brands do you repair, and are any not worth repairing?

The Conduction Company repairs most makes, including Fujitsu and Mitsubishi, because every heat pump works the same way: a circuit board controlling a compressor, valves and fans. What decides whether a repair is worth it is the brand's quality and the unit's age. On a lower-cost brand that is out of warranty, The Conduction Company usually recommends replacing it, because its parts are more likely to fail again after a repair.

Most warranties run five to six years, and The Conduction Company sees most units last eight to 12 years. A unit that has been well looked after and lightly used can reach about 15, and a few run to 20. Once a unit is a good five years past its warranty, the team recommends replacing it over repairing it. Say a compressor fails on a seven-year-old unit, two years out of warranty. After an expensive repair, nothing stops another worn part failing soon after. "You can either keep throwing money into an older machine where all of its parts are deteriorating, or you can just bite the bullet and purchase a new machine," Jordan Statham says.

So on an older unit The Conduction Company prices both the repair and a replacement, and you choose. A new unit comes with a new warranty. The heat pump installation team at The Conduction Company covers the replacement side.

Do you repair ducted and commercial air conditioning?

Yes. The Conduction Company repairs ducted systems, ceiling cassettes, and residential and light commercial air conditioning. If you need ducted or commercial aircon repair in Auckland, the same diagnosis comes first. The large central HVAC systems in big apartment buildings and office towers are the exception: The Conduction Company leaves those to specialist HVAC mechanics who work on large-scale plant.

How fast can you get to a heat pump that stops in mid-winter?

The Conduction Company is reachable 24/7, and aims to respond to a heat pump breakdown the same day.

What happens when a part is weeks away in the middle of winter?

"There's nothing we can really do in those instances," Jordan Statham says. Circuit boards for some makes ship from overseas, so The Conduction Company warns there can be a wait. In the meantime it recommends low-cost plug-in fan or panel heaters, from the likes of Bunnings, to keep your bedrooms warm until the heat pump is repaired.

What is the 20 degree rule for heat pumps?

It is mainly an American air-conditioning rule of thumb, and The Conduction Company treats it as a guide, not a law. It says an air conditioner can only cool a home about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, about 11 degrees Celsius, below the outside temperature. Set it much colder than that on a hot day and the room gets no cooler; the unit just runs flat out.

For heating, EECA advises setting your heat pump to 18 degrees or above to help fight damp and mould, but below 21 degrees to save on power. The Conduction Company suggests 20 degrees as a sensible middle.

In short

Most heat pump breakdowns The Conduction Company repairs in Auckland come down to low refrigerant, a failed circuit board, or a worn fan, valve or compressor. Each repair is priced after a diagnosis visit, before work starts. Cold air on a frosty morning is usually defrost, and switching off at the outdoor isolator for five minutes resets a unit stuck in one mode. If the breaker trips a second time, leave it off and call. An older or lower-cost unit well past its warranty is often better replaced than repaired. This advice comes from Jordan Statham, director of The Conduction Company, a registered electrician and electrical inspector.